Snap seal closure



July 5, 1955 w. F. JAMlEsoN v 2,712,392

SNAP SEAL cLosURE Filed Aug. 8, 1952 IN V EN TOR.

United States Patent Oiiice 2,712,392 Patented July 5, 1955 SNAP SEAL CLOSURE William F. Jamieson, Philadelphia, Pa. Application August 8, 1952, Serial No. 303,259

1 Claim. (Cl. 21S-47) This invention relates to containers, and more particularly to improved closure means for containers.

The main object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved closure structure for a container, said structure involving simple components, being easy to manipulate, and providing a substantially tight seal when in closed position.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved closure device for containers, said device being inexpensive to fabricate, being substantially positive in operation, being durable in construction and requiring no special implements or tools for the manipulation thereof.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description and claim, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a container of the collapsible tube type which is provided with improved closure means constructed in accordance with the present invention.

Figure 2 is an enlarged cross sectional view taken on the line 2 2 of Figure l.

Figure 3 is a cross sectional view similar to Figure 2 but showing the stopper element of the closure device removed from the remainder thereof.

Figure 4 is a cross sectional view taken through a bottle cap provided with an improved closure structure according to the present invention.

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the bottle cap illustrated in Figure 4.

Referring to the drawings, and more particularly to Figures l, 2 and 3, 11 generally designates a paste tube or similar collapsible container having respective sealed ends 12 and 13. The collapsible tube 11 is provided adjacent one end thereof with an improved closure structure according to the present invention shown generally at 14. Referring to Figures 2 and 3, 15 designates the wall of the tube 11, said wall being formed with a circular aperture, and secured invsaid aperture around the margin thereof is the annular metal grommet or eyelet 16, said eyelet 16 having the annular bottom flange 17 which engages the inside surface of the wall 15 around the aperture therein. Disposed between the upper portion of the grommet 16 and the surface of wall 15is the at annular washer 18 of resilientdeformable material, such as rubber, neoprene or the like. The washer 18 provides a tight seal between the grommet 16 and wall 15 around the aperture in said wall. The topvof the grommet 16 comprises an inturned annular ange 19 which extends parallel to the wall 15 and to the intermediate annular portion 20 of the grommet. Positioned on the intermediate annular portion 20 of the grommet is a at annular washer 21 of resilient deformable material, such as rubber, neoprene or the like which extends inwardly over the aperture in the wall of the tube 11, as is clearly shown in Figures 2 and 3, the central opening 22 of said washer being substantially smaller in diameter and being located concentrically with respect to the aperturein wall 15. Secured in the grommet between the top ange 19 and the resilient washer 21 is an annular metal disc member 23 which is formed with the up wardly and inwardly extending arcuate locking fingers 24 extending over the inner portion of the washer 21, as shown in Figure 3. The resilient fingers 24 may be formed by slitting the inner portion of the disc member 23, as shown for example at 25, the inner portion of the plate member being swaged or otherwise formed so as to extend upwardly and inwardly, as shown in Figures 2 and 3.

Designated at 26 is a stopper member which isvprovided with the bulbous projection 27 adapted to be forced downwardly through the top edges of the arcuate resilient fingers 24 and to engage against Vthe inner portion of the resilient washer 21, stretching said washer downwardly, as illustrated in Figure 2. The bulbous projection 27 is shaped to spread apart the resilient ngers 24 and tofsnap into a position wherein it exerts a downward stretching force on the inner portion of the washer 21, the stresses thus developed reacting to lock the bulbous portion 27 of the stopper in the position thereof shown in Figure 2, wherein the stopper portion is firmly held by the clamping engagement of the resilient fingers 24 on the upper portion of the bulbous element 27 and the clamping effect of the stretched inner 'portion of washer 21 on the lower portion of said bulbous element 27. The inner portion of the washer 21 makes sealing contact with the bulbous element 27, and thus tightly seals the opening in the tube 11. To remove the stopper it is merely necessary to pull upwardly on the top handle element of said stopper, illustrated at 28, whereby the upper portions of the resilient locking fingers 24 are separated, allowing the bulbous element 27 to be extracted. The stopper may be easily replaced when desired by following the procedure outlined above, namely, by forcing the bulbous element 27 downwardly through the resilient fingers 24 and into sealing engagement with the inner portion of the washer 21. l

Referring now to Figures-4 and 5, designated at 30 is a bottle cap which is formed with a depending corrugated peripheral ange 31, as in conventional bottle caps, said flange 31 being adapted to be frictionally engaged on the top bead 32 of a bottle neck 33. The top wall of the cap 30 is designated at 34, and said top wall is formed with a central aperture. The top wall 34 is formed around said aperture with the upwardly and inwardly extending resilient fingers 35, said ngers 35 being arcuate in shape, and being'substantially similar to the ngers 24 provided on the disc 23 in the embodiment of the invention illustrated in Figures 1 to 3. As shown in Figure 4, the central portion of the top wall 34 may be depressed downwardly and the fingers 35 may be formed to extend upwardly toward the top surface plane of -wall 34. Secured to the bottom surface of v the wall 34 and therefore positioned between said wall and the top surface of the rim or bead 32 is the dat annular washer 36 of deformable resilient material, such as rubber, neoprene or the like. The washer 36 extends inwardly beyond the central aperture in the wall 34, and said washerhas a central opening 37 which is of substantially smaller diameter than the opening in the wall 34. Designated at 38 is a closure disc which is formed centrally with the depending bulbous projection 39 adapted to lockingly engage in the resilient fingers 35 and to exert a downward stretching force on the inner portion of the washer 36 in a manner similar to which the bulbous element 27 engages in the resilient fingers 24 and stretches the linner portion of the washer 21 downwardly in the form of the invention illustrated in Figures 1, Zand 3. Withkthe bulbous element 39 thus lockingly received in the centralaperture in wall 34 the plate member 38 is in face-to-face, substantially sealing contact with the top surface of the wall 34 around the central aperture in said wall and serves as a sealing closure. The closure disc 38 is provided with a similar disc. element 40 integrally connected therewith at 41 and normally extend ing parallel to the sealing disc element 38, as shown in Figure 4. The upper disc element 40 is bendable upwardly to the dotted line position thereof shown in Figure 4, and may be employed as a handle or finger tab for pulling the sealing disc 38 oit the top surface of the wall 34 of cap 30. To close the aperture in the bottle cap, it is merely necessary to force the bulbous element 39 downwardly through the iingers 35 and into sealing engagement with the inner portion of the washer 36, as in the case of the previously described embodiment of the invention illustrated Vin Figures l, 2 and 3. When the bulbous element 39 is lockingly engaged between the iingers 35 and the inner portion of the washer 36, the disc element 38 is secured to face-to-face sealing contact with the top surface of the wall element 34 of the bottle cap.

While certain specic embodiments of an improved closure structure for containers has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as dened by the scope of the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A rigid Wall element adapted to form an outer surface of a container, an aperture in said wall element, an annular Washer of resilient deformable material secured to said wall element concentrically with respect to said aperture and extending inwardly over said aperture, a plurality of upstanding resiliently yieldable locking iingers secured to said wall element around said aperture and projecting radially inward over said aperture, and a closure member having a bulbous projection thereon movable downward between said locking fingers into the space between said fingers and washer, said projection being of a size to exert a downward and outward stretching force on the inner portion of said washer and an upward and outward stretching force on the inner portion of said locking fingers when the closure member is positioned over the wall element with the projection engaging through said aperture.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNlTED STATES PATENTS Great Britain fan. 8, 1937 

